Why can South Korea successfully apply for the Dragon Boat Festival as a traditional festival in their country?

There are many opinions about the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, such as: in memory of Qu Yuan; In memory of Wu Zixu's theory; In memory of Cao E; From the three generations of summer solstice festival; The theory of exorcising evil days on the moon, the theory of national totem sacrifice in wuyue and so on. Each of the above has its own source. According to more than 100 ancient books and archaeological studies by experts listed in Wen Yiduo's Dragon Boat Festival Examination and Dragon Boat Festival History Education, the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival is a totem festival held by Wuyue people in the ancient south of China, earlier than Qu Yuan. However, for thousands of years, Qu Yuan's patriotic spirit and touching poems have been deeply rooted in people's hearts, so people "cherish it and mourn it, talk about it in the world, and tell it through the ages." Therefore, the theory of commemorating Qu Yuan has the widest and deepest influence and occupies the mainstream position. In the field of folk culture, China people associate dragon boat racing and eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival with commemorating Qu Yuan.

South Korea's successful application for World Heritage will have no impact on our Dragon Boat Festival culture. Intangible cultural heritage is the wealth enjoyed by all mankind, and our cultural tradition has been recognized by other countries. Personally, I don't think this is a bad thing, "Liu, chairman of the Chinese Folklore Society and a researcher at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview this morning. Liu Jiaoshou introduced that UNESCO's requirement for the declaration of intangible heritage is that each country can only declare one item every two years. There are many intangible heritages that China urgently needs to protect, which led to the pre-declaration of South Korea.

"Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival is actually different from our Dragon Boat Festival." Professor Gao of Peking University, secretary-general of China Folklore Society, said in an interview that the Korean Dragon Boat Festival is actually composed of dances, shaman sacrifices and folk art exhibitions, which is different from China people's activities such as eating zongzi, rowing dragon boats and commemorating Qu Yuan. "The only similarity is the time frame, which was held during the Dragon Boat Festival in China." Professor Gao said that the success of South Korea's application for World Heritage actually brought us a good enlightenment: they injected modern elements into traditional cultural activities, successfully realized modern transformation, and gained international recognition, which has reference significance for the protection of China's heritage.